Method of producing heating and illuminating gas.



No. 833,346. PATENTED OCT. 16, 1906. J. s. SMITH.

METHOD OF PRODUCING HEATING AND ILLUMINATING GAS.

' APPLICATION FILED PEB.13, 1905.

UNITED STATES I IENT OFFICE.

JACOB S. "SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

'METHOD OF PRODUCING HEATING AND ILLUMINATING GAS- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

Application filed February 13. 1906. Serial No. 246,837.

This invention relates to improvements in methods for manufacturing gas for heating and illuminating purposes from liquid hydrocarbons, steam, and air, and particularly the first two of these materials.

The rime object of my invention is a process by which the gaseous elements of gasproducing materials are so thoroughly dissociated and reassociated, combined, and fixed in gas for use that it may be washed, filtered, compressed, stored, transported, and distributed in pipes and mains for use without, as near as maybe, deterioration in either quality or volume, and this particularly with gas produced from oil, steam, and air. V

A further object is a process by which a maximum quantity or volumeof steam may be dissociated into its gases with an absence of an excess of carbon dioxid and nitrogen, while at the same time the liberated hydrogen is intimately mixed and combined with volatilized carbon.

Another object of my invention .is a method for controlling and uniformly maintaining a gas-producing temperature in a generator by adding to or subtracting from the sup ly of one orall of the as-producing materiaIs to the generator, an at the same time to utilize the heats of the evolved gases to decompose additional steam, and this at such a point relative to the place of decomposition of the previously-produced gases as to promote the perfect combination, ofthe gases from said excess of, steam with the previously-evolved hydrocarbon gases.

A still further object is a method by which the decom osition of gas-producing materials into tiieir gaseous elements is substantially quickcned, the quantity of material to sustain a decomposing heat therefor is substantially reduced, and the vvolumeof fixed gases from a given quantity of gasreducing materials is substantially increased A further object is a method by which heavy hydrocarbons and other refuse materials are largely removed and discharged from the gas before the scrubbing operation takes place, and also by which after the scrubbing operation the gas is so thoroughly filtered as to prevent thereafter any substan. tial deterioration either in quantity or quality of the gas when subsequently compressed, stored, transported, and distributed.

In ca ing out my invention I preferably employ t e a paratus illustrated n the accompanying rawings; but, as will be made apparent later on, my invention is not limited or confined to the details of construction therein shown,, but may beper-.

formed with equal success in an apparatuswhich, mechanically speaking, is substantially different therefrom.

- In the' accompanying drawings,. Figure 1 illustrates a central vertical section of an a paratus, and Fig. 2 a side elevation, partly in section, of a compressor in and by which the invention of methods may be performed and carried out, and with the several parts of the ap aratus-namely, the generator, the washer, tiie scrubber, the filter, and a pumpfor inducing a circulationof the gases through the apparatus and onward to their destination and to a compressor coupled in their operative' arrangement. p v

Similar letters and numerals of reference indicate the same partsin the drawings.

A indicates a gasenerator provided at its top with a manho e -1 and at its bottom with a manhole 2 for access thereto and with;

a breaker-wall 3 at the rear of, a gasq-generat;

in -chamber 4.

nto the front of the gasgeneratingchain-- ber opens anair-suppl pipe 5, surrounding an oil or other hydrocar on pipe 6, in turnsurroundin a steam-supplypi e 7,the diameter of t e .pipe 6 being so ciently smaller than the pipe 5 to provide av surrounding airassage an the pipe 7 being of sufficiently lhss diameter than the pipe 6 toform a surroundingv passage for oil, and preferably in ractice the pipes 6 7 terminate shortly beore reaching t e inner end of the pi e 5 for the purposes of promoting a more t orough mixture of the air, steam, and oil before entering the generating chamber 4. These several supp y-pipes may be connected in the usual manner with the sources for their su ply, and the oil and air pipe and particular i' the latter two, are preferably connected wit means for directing their respective supply thereto under pressure, the said pipes being so,arranged relative to the breaker-wall that they shall deliver their supply against the face of the breaker-wall at a right angle thereto and preferably with a force sufficient to first finely divide the materials and in such amanner that they will first be instantly viodecomposition and combination with themixed ases evolved in the generating-chamber. l eek-holes 9 and 10 are provided at the front of the structure for observing the heats, current, and generation within.

Ad'acently forward of the generatingcham er is a chamber B, separated in part.

from the generating-chamber. by a depending wall 11,which extends from the top there- 01 to a point sufficiently above the bottom to afford a free passa e 12 for the gases from the generator to the c amber B and which must therefore first descend through. chamber 13- below the generating-chamber before enterin the chamber B. Y

he chamber B is provided with manholes I4 and 15, respectively, at its top and bottom and for access thereto and discharges its gases through a pipe or passage 16 near the top of the generating-chamber into a Washer C, which washer may be c lindrical in form, as shown, or of any other esired form. The

, washer C is provided with a series of down I wardIy-inclined deflecting-plates 17, set at such an angle that they will shunt water supplied through a pipe 18, entering the top of the washer from one late to the other and withsuch force as wil prevent any carbon accumulating on the plates, which, together with the water discharging through the pi e 18, will subject the gas dischar ing from the chamber B to the cleansing, coo ing, and contracting effect of water baffled and shunted in the direction of its course. The una'ssociated carbon or tar and other solids extracted in this manner by the washer are deposited b a current of water through a pi e 19 in the ottom of the washer discharge into a tra 20.

djacent to the washer C is a scrubber D, connected by a pipe 21 with washer C and which is located at aoint toward the bottom of the washer an the scrubber, so that gases discharged from the washer must ascend through the scrubber and to a pipe 22 near the top thereof before escaping from the latter.

The scrubber is provided with the usual substantially horizontal plates 23, rojecting from opposite sides thereof and orming a.

zigzag passa e for the ascent of the gases and for the descent of water su plied to the scrubber through the pipe 24 in t he top thereof, the resulting tar and other solid matter accumulating in the scrubber being discharged through the pi e 25 into a trap 26 and access bein had toitiie scrubber-plate through the usua manholes 23.

Pipe 22 is provided with a vertical extension 27, projecting downwardly and referably centrall of a filter E, but terminating at a point a s ort distance above the bottom of the filter. The filter E, shown to be of cylindrical but may be of any other desired form, has standgig upon its bottom and projectmg above t lower end of the pipe 27 pieces of round w bod or iron poles or pipes 28, set vertically, fillin the space between the pipe 27 and the she I of the filter, the space above the ends ofthese oles surrounding the pipe 27 up to a point slow the dischargepipe 29 thereof near its upper end, being preferably filled with rye-straw 30,- cut about one foot in length and tied in small bundles with the straws set vertically, but may be of other fibrous materials suitable for the same purposes. The tar and other refuse accumulating in the filter E is discharged from-the bottom thereof through a pipe 31 into a trap 32, the said filter being also provided with a manhole 33 for access, thereto. The filter-discharge pipe 29 is connected with the suction end of ,a pump F, and gases entering the pump are discharged through a pipe 34 into a compressor G, and thence onwardly to a gasometer or other storage vessels or directly into the mains, as may be desired.

The compressor G comprises a closed receptacle 35, which may be of cylindrical or other form, provided with a discharge-pipe 36, in which is a valve 37, which may be used for controlling the degree of pressure to which the gases supplied to the compressorchamber by the pum F are to be subjected and, also to regulate t e degree of expansion, and therefore the pressure of the gases in the mains, a storage vessel, or other receptacle into the gases discharged from the compressor. The compressor is also provided with a pipe 38, controlled by a valve 39, through which are discharged waters of condensation resulting from the compression of the gases from the compressing-chamber. The compressor is preferably located in avat 40 and immersed in water or other cooling medium supplied thereto through a pipe 41, which cooling medium after serving to remove the heats of compression from thegas and correspondingly contracting it is discharged through a pipe 42, controlled by a valve 43.

In the practical operation of the apparatus described the pump F is put in motion to in duce a current of air into the generator A, and at which time the pipe 5 is open and oil is introduced through the pipe 6 into the ITO and the breaker-wall3 have been sufficiently heated; steam is injected into the generatingchamber-through the pipe 7 under a sufficient pressure to deliver the steam, and also any oil or air discharging from the pipes and 6, or either of them, forcibly with sufficient impact against the heated surface to very finely divide the gas-producing materials into particles so minute as to thereby produce instan' taneous gasification immediately followed by a thorough mechanical mixing and complete chemical combination. As fast as the gases are thus generated they are by the action of the pump drawn'downwardly through the chamber 13vthl'O1/1 the passage 12, whence they 9 must rise in t e chamber B to the passage 16 before escaping therefrom. Gases rising in the chamber B after discharging through the passage 16 descend through t e'washer C, which in the meantime is supplied through the pipe 18 with water sufficient in volume and of a temperature capable of discharging a substantial portion of the heavy hydrocarbons and other solid products from the gas and also from the inclined plates, which heavy hydrocarbons, largely in the form of tar, automatically discharge from the washer through the pipe 19 into the trap 20. The gases are discharged from the washer C through the pipe 21 into the scrubber D, at or near its bottom, and rising upwardly therein in a zigzag manner owing to the arrangement of the horizontal plates 23 against a supply of water through the pipe 24, flowing downwardly from plate to plate in contact with the ascendin gases, the accumulating by-products in the meantime discharging through pipe 25 into trap 26. Grases from the scrubber discharge through pipes 22 and 27 to a point at ortoward the bottom of the filter and escaping therefrom ascend in contact with and between the poles or rods 28' through the straw filterin material 30, the poles 28 serving as desirab esurfaces for collecting and conducting undecomposed materials coming in contact therewith and from the straw to the bottom of the filter, and thereby promoting their collecting therein and discharge therefrom through the-pipe 31 nto the trap 32. Gaseswhich have passed through the washer, the scrubber, and the filter enter the pump F substantiall if not entirely free of all objectionable so ids and in this condition may be discharged onwardly to their destination, but undermy invention are preferably discharged into the compressor G through the ipe 34 for the purposes of removing con ensable vapors therefrom, and thereby reduce the gases discharged from the compressor to a condition for subsequent storing, transportation, and distribution through mains with an entire absence, as near as may be, of their deterio- It is evident that gas generated by the decomposition of the gas materials in the presence of air will contain more or less nitrogen, depending upon the manner of conversion, and it is therefore one of the purposes of this invention'to effect a gasification of the gas materials with the least possible quantity of air to avoid an excess of nitrogen and dioxid in the resultant gases, while at the same time dissociating a maximum of steam to combine the thereby-released hydrogen with the volatilized carbon.

I have found by injecting oil and steam simultaneously with a comparatively small volume of air forcibly against a hot surface within a generating-chamber heated within to a gasifying degree that the gasification is instantaneous, andthat the conversion-of the materia s into gas will sustain the heats of the chamber and'the surfaces within to the proper degree so long as the materials are so supplied, and that the operation may be continuous without interruption, and that the elements in the gasmaterials are thus released, and combined within the generating-chamber.

The mixing, baflling, and contact with the surfaces of the breaker-wall and generating chamber caused by the explosive impact and instantaneous expansion of the forcible discharge against the heated surface of the breaker so sets, combines, and fixes the escaping gases that the customary brick checker-work intervening between the discharge of the generating-chamber and the outlet of the apparatus is dispensedwith-entirely, and the annoyance and delays caused by the clogging up of the checker-work by carbon or other refractory materials are avoided. This instantaneous conversion of;

ments necessarily reduces the quantity of air consumed, lessens the resulting nitrogen and the quantity of materials required for heat. A further saving is brought about by so conducting the generated gases as to supply escaping heat to the rear of the brea er and breaker-wall to assist in sustaining the heats of the breaker and generating-chamber, which correspondingly reduces the materials consumed for maintaining a gasifying temperature within the generating-chamber, and thereby the dioxid of combustion and the nitrogen are reduced to a minimum, or, in other words, a uniform and continuous gaslfying heat is maintained without interruption with the least expenditure for the necessary heat.

Obviously the washing, scrubbing, filtering and particularly the removal of condensable vapors by compression to a degree pro- 1 viding for their storage under high pressure without deteriorating in quantity or volume is not ractical in the absence of the production 0 sufficient fixed gases in the initial generation to insure thecommercial success thereof, and with the latter in view it will be apparent that the essential feature of my method consists in subjecting oil and steam to a decomposing de ree of heat and concurrently therewith finefily dividin their molecules in the presence of each 0t er by forcible impact quickly followed by the explosion of these finely-divided molecules into dissociated gases finally associated together in a volume composed of fixed gases.

The condition precedent to the commercial success for the production of a gas'which is free from solids and particularly condensable vapors and by which its compression into minimum space for storage and transportation is practical is the initial eneration of a large volume of fixed gas rapid y, continuously, and upon a commercial basis substantially corresponding with that required to produce gases now commonly employed, and this condition precedent is supplied by my invention through the directing of the gas-producing materials with forcible impact against a breaker-wall maintained in a uniformly highly heated condition before discharging into a washer, scrubber, or other device employed for cooling and contracting the gases,

Another important feature accruing to my invention is the method by which the decomposition of an additionalthat is to say, an extraamount of steam may be decomposed and thoroughly combined both mechanically and chemically with the gases of initial generation and which is made possible by discharging such steam within the heats of initial generation and across the path traversed beore their escape from the generating-chamber, while at the same time conducting all of the gases in a direction best disregarding their several specific ravities and promoting their association wit iin the generating-chamber before and at the time of their discharge therefrom. Although seemingly to these ends the best results are secured by conducting thegenerated gases downwardly out of the gas-generating chamber and thence upwardly in contact with the rear surface of the breaker-wall, it will be no substantial departure from the method of my invention to have the gases ascend in escaping from the generating-chamber, provided they are caused to descend in contact with the rear face When the gases ascend out of the generating-chamber, it should be observed that if an excess of steam is desirable then the steampipe 8 should be in a plane above instead of in a plane, below the point at which oil and steam are injected into the enerating-cham ber against the breaker-walT for the purposes of initial generation.

While an important feature of my invention is the commercially successful production of a dehydrated gas from oil and steam, and therefore a gas which may be stored and transported under excessive pressure and subsequently used at that pressure and a loW pressure without precipitationthat is to say, without deterioration in either quantity or volume-my invention is not to be so limited, for it includes themethod herein described for the generation of the gas to the exclusion of said subsequent compression and also either or both the Washing and scrubbing thereof.

In conclusion, it should be observed that while the apparatus shown and described herein is believed to be the best means by which to perform my methods, it should be understood that my invention is not limited thereby, for it includes any apparatus, however different it may be in mechanical construction, in which it is possible or practical to perform the same or'substantially the same methods herein described and claimed.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The herein-described method of producing illuminating and heating gas, the same consisting in conducting gas-producing materials forcibly through a decomposing degree of heat in a generating-chamber, then subjecting said material to a violent impact finely dividing the molecules thereof, and concurrently therewith to a decomposing degree of heat dissociating their gases, then confining said gas within said heat until reassociated into a volume of fixed gas, then supplying steam thereto, and finally conducting said gases out of said chamber, whereby heats of generation are produced and utilized for sustaining a decomposing degree of heat in a generating-chamber, and illuminating and heating gases containing an excess of decomposed steam are continuously produced within the confines of agenerating-chamber, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described method of producing illuminating and heating gas, the same consisting in conducting gas-producing materials forcibly through a decomposing degree of heat in a generating-chamber, then subjecting said materials to a violent impact finely dividing the molecules thereof, and concurrently therewith to a decomposing degree of heat dissociating their gases, then confining said gases within said heat until reassociated into a volume of fixed gas, and finally supplying additional steam thereto across the path of the discharge of the gas from the generator approximately about the point of the exit of the gases from the generator, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described method of producing illuminating and heating gas, the same consisting in conducting gas-producing materials forcibly through a decomposing degree of heat in a generating-chamber, then sub'ecting said materials to a violent impact finely dividing the molecules thereof, and concurrently therewith to a decomposing degree of heat dissociating their gases, then confining said gases Within said heat until reassociated into a volume offixed gas, then conducting the combined gases downwardly out of said chamber and finally discharging steam across the path of said descending gases in the presence of a decomposing degree of heat, whereby heats of generation are produced and utilized for sustaining a decomposing degree of heat in a generatingchamber and-illuminating and heating gases containing an excess of decomposed steam combined therewith are continuously produced in the presence of said heat, substantially as described.

4. The herein-described method of producing illuminating and heating gases, the

' same consisting in conducting gas-producing materials forcibly through a decomposing degree of heat in a generating-chamber, then subjecting said materials to a violent impact finely dividing the molecules thereof, and concurrently therewith to a decomposing degree of'heat, dissociating their gases, then confining said gases Within said heat until reassociated into avolume of gases and finally supplying additional steam thereto across the path of'the discharge of said gas from the generator and at about their point of exit therefrom, substantially as described.

5. The herein-described method of producing illuminating and heating gases, the same consisting in conducting gas-producing materials forcibly through a decomposing degree of heat in a generating-chamber, then subjecting said materials to a violent impact finely dividing the molecules thereof and concurrently therewith to a decomposing degree of heat dissociating their gases, then confining said gases within said heat until reassociated into a volume of fixed gases and finally delivering across the path of the gases at about the point of their discharge from the retort, additional steam forcibly delivered with a violent impact finely dividing the molecules thereof in the presence of a degree of heat dissociating the gases of such steam and promoting their mixing with the gases of primary generation, whereby heats of generation are produced and utilized for combining additional hydrogen and oxygen with illuminating and heating gases in the continuous production thereof, substantially as described.

6. The herein-described method of producing illuminating and heating gas, the same consisting in conducting oil, steam and air simultaneously forcibly through a decom;

osing degree of heat in a generating-chamer, then subjecting said materials in the presence of each other to a violent impact finely dividing the molecules thereof and concurrently therewith to a decomposing degree of heat dissociating their gases, then confining said gases within said heat until reassociated into a volume of fixed gas, then discharging these gases out of said chamber and finally conducting additional steam across the path thereof during said discharge and subjecting said steam to violent impact in the presence of said discharging gases, whereby an excess of steam is continuously decomposed subsequently mixed and combined with fixed hydrocarbon gases discharging from a generating-chamber, substantially as described.

JACOB S. SMITH.

Witnesses:

JNo. G. ELLIOTT, M. B. ALLSTADT. 

